Page 77 of Absolute Fulfillment
“To get this shit over with. You and Kinga did all that bitching at the party. You ready to put in this work or you creeping?”
“I’m grown as hell. Ain’t shit ’bout me giving creeping. Now I’m on my way, bitch. Be outside. I owe Lil G fifty dollars because I bet him he couldn’t hop in that fucking pool.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I heard about that. Don’t be ducking smoke. You got it.”
“Don’t matter. I’on like paying folks that I know don’t.”
“Then why did you make the bet then, Reminisce?” I asked, eyes locked on the sight before me. Boe had just walked the new girl into my office for an interview. This was a fucking gentleman’s club, but damn, she could’ve come in here presentable, not like she was about to hop up on the stage. I knew I wasn’t tripping, because on my mama this was a first. Every other girl I hired walked in here dressed for an interview then changed into the Poles & Pastry T-shirt and shorts to show what they had going. Nah, I wasn’t no creep ass nigga who made bitches do weird shit for the job. Boe handled the majority of the hiring steps. I just signed off on it and sat in on the interviews.
“I thought you were at the club today.” Reminisce’s voice brought me from my daydream back to the office.
“I am and I have an interview. By the time you get here she’ll be finished and we can go handle that.”
“Aight. Bet.” He hung up and I focused on Boe and Shorty. Something about her seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place her.
“I hear y’all got benefits. That’s true?” Shorty popped her gum loud as hell while she spoke. I could tell the question wasdirected toward me because she hadn’t taken her eyes off me since she sat down.
“Yes. So, tell us Ms. Stokes, what is your experience working in a gentleman’s club?” Boe asked because she had worked for me long enough to know I had no intention of doing so.
Shorty nodded. “I worked at Angel Numberz and Blowfish. It was aight, but I wasn’t making much money.”
I nodded, already knowing I wasn’t signing off on her. Nothing against her looks, because from what I could see she was a beautiful woman, but the two clubs she’d just listed were both undercover prostitution rings. I meant it when I said I wanted to keep my business clean. I didn’t need that kind of infestation.
Boe also knew because she and I had this conversation a few times. I was serious about the integrity of my business, meaning just because we sold the illusion of sex didn’t mean we sold sex.
“Why did you leave your last club?”
“Because it was too many haters and the money was slow. It thinned out after Sal stopped the VIP privacy. That’s where most of the money came from.” She sighed, seemingly irritated at the change. I was half ass paying this interview any attention because I knew already. I was on my phone about to text Cay and ask her what was for dinner tonight. She hated that question while I only asked to fuck with her.
“Well, our VIP rooms also only provide minimal privacy as we’re trying to protect the dancers and the club from the wrong type of attention.”
“I heard from my cousin Juicy that y’all got doors.”
That stopped me, pulling my attention. “Juicy is your cousin?” The reason I couldn’t place her face was because she looked like Juicy but wasn’t Juicy.
“Yeah. She said this was one of the nicest clubs she ever worked at.”
“Then why did she stop showing up?” Boe questioned, shaking her head.
“I don’t know. Bitch been sleeping on my grandmother’s couch for the last two weeks, talking about somebody is after her. I already live with our grandmother, now she wants to as well. I’m a caretaker during the day for my granny, but at night I’m available to dance.” Shorty realized she was babbling before finally shutting up. The interview went on for another ten minutes, all the while I was sure I’d be grabbing her file from Boe.
“You’re not thinking about hiring her, are you, boss?” Boe asked when it was just her and me in my office.
“Shit no. I can’t have that in here. She was cute, better than cute, but she’s looking for an atmosphere we don’t provide.”
Boe nodded in agreement.
“I’m headed out in a few. Don’t hesitate to call if you need me tonight.”
“You’re good, boss. I got the fort.” She nodded before standing to leave my office. We didn’t say anything more as I put my phone to my ear and she exited. I had a change of plans, because according to the file in my hands, Juicy’s grandmother only lived five minutes from the club. Lowkey, if she was there, the idea was genius, hiding in plain sight. Nine times out of ten, when you lived the life they did, you had to have genius ideas like that. Too bad you had motherfuckers like Ms. Motormouth who fucked it all up.
My brother let me know he was outside, so I was leaving out when my phone started ringing again. This time when I looked down it was my baby. I had been meaning to check in with her, but didn’t know if she was on a head and didn’t want to bother her.
“Yeah, beautiful.”
“My car started smoking on the way out to the house. Adonis and I are fine. Harlem came to get us and Kinga had my car towed to his shop.”
I paused for a minute, not liking the idea of them on the side of the fucking road even though she assured me she wasn’t. “Why yeen call me?”
